Assessment of hyperbilirubinemia in full-term infants: Part II.

The nurse practitioner plays an important role in assessing infants for factors that may contribute to unconjugated bilirubinemia. Healthy, full-term infants with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia and no evidence of hemolysis require monitoring of their total serum bilirubin levels and stooling patterns, and they need encouragement to feed more frequently to resolve the hyperbilirubinemia. Promoting frequent breast-feeding is essential, especially for infants with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia. For those infants with evidence of hemolysis or exaggerated physiologic jaundice, more advanced medical intervention such as phototherapy and exchange transfusion are available when indicated.